Behind Every Lie There Is Truth
by LaurelNymph
Summary: Due to a legal snafu, Tae will lose the dojo if she doesn't find a husband - and fast. A scam marriage is Tae's only option, and there's only one permed hero she can trust to not fall in love with her. Or can she? GinTae, with a little bit of Katusmatsu.
1. Chapter 1: The Revelation

**A/N Hello, everyone! This is my first Gintama fic. I haven't read the whole series yet, so if you notice something that it wrong according to the latest volume/chapter, please just ignore it! I will be updating with a new chapter every week. Please review and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter One

Tae was feeling rather good. She had made quite a few sales the night before at the club and for once she would have extra cash left over after paying all of the bills. She walked leisurely to the post office to retrieve the bills she could actually pay. At the post office, she waited in line, one which was short for once. After only waiting a few minutes, she received her mail and went home.

Once there, she brewed tea for herself as she went through the various bills. One letter stood out from the rest. It was larger, heavier, and stamped with the seal of the government. Tae stared at the letter in confusion. Why would she be getting letters from the government? She slit the envelope open and slid out the letter.

As she read it, her blood pressure began to rise to an extremely dangerous level.

"I'm being SUBPOENAED?"

* * *

Tae clenched her fists in an attempt to not slug the man sitting in front of her. The letter she had received from the government required her to appear at court. However, it had not specified why, but the judge sitting across the table from her did.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. How could I possibly be trespassing on my own property?" Tae asked in a sweet voice that terrified the judge.

"I'm afraid that you do not legally own the house and dojo where you are currently staying."

"Of course I do. My father left me the house and the dojo in his will," Tae growled. The judge paled at the words ground out from between the lovely young girl's teeth.

"The law states that a person cannot inherit property until that person is twenty-one years of age. Although the house was left to you in the will, it cannot legally pass into your ownership until you have reached the proper age. Because the house does not belong to you, you are trespassing and squatting on private property. I'm afraid we have no choice but to arrest you."

Tae shot to her feet, determined not to go without a fight.

"Please wait!" the judge cried out as the bailiff got to his feet as well. "I certainly don't want to throw a young woman out onto the streets or arrest her for something out of her control!" Tae remained in a battle stance. "I have a daughter at home, and I would hate to see her in a predicament like this should anything ever happen to me," the judge said softly. "I cannot overlook this, but I can offer you this: I will wait for three days to take action so that you have time to arrange for a place to stay."

Tae leaned on the table. "There's no other way around it?" she cried out. The dojo meant everything to her and losing it would be like losing a limb. Tae needed something else, anything else, so long as it let her stay close to her home. The judge scratched his chin.

"I suppose things would be different if you were married."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Tae shouted and leaned over the table at the judge. Terrified, he raised his hands in an attempt to block whatever attack Tae had planned. "I meant that if you were to get married, the property would transfer to your husband as long as he was over twenty-one and everything would be fine."

Tae leaned back away from the judge who breathed a sigh of relief, a thoughtful look on her face. She wordlessly walked out of the room and the judge collapsed in fear on the table.

* * *

Tae wandered Edo, not particularly caring where she was headed. She was going to be evicted, possibly even arrested if she couldn't find a husband and fast. She quickly scrolled through a list of men she knew in her head. No one at the club, that was for sure. They would all think she was serious about the marriage. Not to mention the fact that most of them already had wives. No, she needed someone who would be fine with a scam. Someone who wasn't serious about her. She continued to think.

"OTAE-SAN! MARRY ME!"

Without even thinking, her fist collided with Kondo's nose as he leaped out from behind a bush. He sank to the ground slowly and Tae continued on her way, still thinking.

"Ane-go!" Tae shook herself from her thoughts to see Kagura running toward her with a piece of sukonbu hanging out of her mouth. Sadaharu followed and pounced on Kagura, who laughed and wrestled the dog to the ground. Tae looked up and realized she had walked to the yorozuya. And then, she had an idea.

* * *

Tae walked into the yorozuya somewhat hesitantly. She had passed Kagura playing with Sadaharu on her way there, and Shinpachi was attending another Otsu concert, so she had some time alone to talk to Gin. However, seeing how her day was going, it wasn't unlikely that one of them would burst in while she tried to have a serious conversation with Gin. The hero was currently lying on the couch, snoring away, with an issue of Shounen Jump covering his face. Tae pondered briefly whether she should wake Gin up by punching him or kicking him.

"Yeoow!" Gin shouted as he sat up, the magazine falling off his face and onto the floor. Tae sat on the other couch as Gin spluttered with indignity.

"What the hell? Why did you just kick me in the stomach?"

"I didn't kick you," Tae replied with an innocent look on her face. Gin raised an eyebrow.

"How could you forget, it only happened a few paragraphs ago!" Gin shouted, still massaging his stomach. Tae's innocent face turned serious.

"I need to ask you a favor," she said quietly. Gin started an angry retort but was stopped by the troubled expression on Tae's face.

"What is it?" he asked in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"I'm getting evicted." Tae went back and told Gin the whole story. "And now the only way I can stay at the dojo is if I get married," she finished. Gin was silent for a moment.

"What about the gorilla?" he asked. "He'd marry you in a heartbeat!"

In exactly one heartbeat, Gin found his face smashed into the coffee table.

"Don't be stupid, I can't stand him," Tae said as Gin held back multiple swears.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Gin cried out in exasperation, rubbing his bleeding nose.

"Will you marry me?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Question

**A/N - Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Two

Gin could only gape dumbly at Tae, her words resounding in his ears. "Marry you?" he repeated stupidly. Tae nodded.

"You're the only one I could ask," she admitted with a faint blush. "The gorilla would be too serious and most of my customers at the club are married. You, however, are perfect! You don't mind pulling off a scam, you're not serious about me at all–" Gin couldn't help but feel slightly insulted by Tae's casual assertion of his ill character.

"Besides," she added, "We wouldn't have to _stay_ married. It's just until I turn twenty-one."

For some reason unknown to him, Gin felt slightly hurt by those words.

"Not to mention it'll get your stalker (and mine) off your back for a while."

Gin remained silent. Tae looked down, her voice coming out very low.

"_Please_, Gin-san. I'm desperate. I can't lose my father's dojo."

She certainly looked desperate. Her shoulders were slumped and tears filled her eyes. It wasn't in her nature at all to ask help or beg from anyone, and Gin could see how much it pained her to have to resort to begging. Her pain at possibly losing the dojo her beloved father had left her dug at Gin's nearly non-existent guilt. And with such a pathetic look on her pretty (and at the back of Gin's mind, rather cute) face, he found himself incapable of denying her.

"All right," he said, finally. "But you'd better stop hitting me!"

"Really?" asked Tae before her face broke out with a huge grin. "Oh, thank you!" she cried as she threw her arms around him and squeezed. Gin instantly turned red, though he wasn't quite sure how much of the color has appeared due to embarrassment and how much of it arose from the lack of air as Tae crushed his windpipe. Eventually, she let go. If Gin hadn't been trying to get precious oxygen into his lungs, he might have noticed a pink blush on Tae's face.

"So when are getting married, anyway?" Gin asked, massaging his poor pharynx.

"They only gave me three days to get my things in order, so let's do it tomorrow!" Tae replied. Gin scratched his head.

"Well, we've got a job lined up for tomorrow, and we'll probably get back after City Hall closes, so we'll have to put it off until the day after tomorrow." Tae frowned slightly. That was cutting it a little too close for her. But then again, there was nothing much she could do. He had already agreed to marry her. The actual wedding could wait.

"Okay," she agreed, since she really had no choice.

Outside the window, they were suddenly aware heard faint but terrible singing that grew in volume as the singer approached.

"What planet is yo' mama from~!"

Both Gin and Tae shuddered.

"Well, we'd better go down and tell Shinpachi the plan," Gin said standing up. He moved toward the door but was stopped when Tae, who had remained sitting on the couch, blushing faintly, grabbed his sleeve. "What?"

"Well," Tae said slowly. "Us getting married to get land is _fraud_."

Gin blinked. "Since when have you cared about the law?" He cringed instantly, expecting a blow. Surprisingly, none landed. He opened his eyes to find Tae still sitting on the couch.

"I just mean that maybe we should keep this a secret."

Gin blinked. "You want to keep the marriage a secret?"

"Just the motive," Tae said looking down. "If I went to jail, there would be no one left to pay off the dojo and then I would really lose it." She wiped at her eyes furiously, letting go of Gin's sleeve. "I couldn't stand it if I lost the dojo."

Gin walked over to Tae and awkwardly patted her on the back. He was really terrible at comforting people. Tae's tears were short-lived and had stopped by the time Shinpachi had entered the room, still singing off-key. He blinked at the sight of Gin and Tae on the couch together, Gin's hand on her shoulder as well as his sister's red eyes looking quite suspicious. He dropped his Walkman. Gin gave Tae a determined look that said "Let's make this good." Tae nodded, a look of equal determination on her face.

"W-w-what's going on in here?" squeaked Shinpachi, his voice going impossibly high. Tae grabbed Gin's hand that was still on her shoulder.

"Gin-san and I have decided to get married!" Tae said cheerfully. Shinpachi was speechless. But only for a moment.

"Ane-ue, you can't mean that!" shrilled Shinpachi, his voice apparently stuck at a very high pitch. "And where the hell did this come from anyway?" A look of abject horror crossed his face. "Please tell me you're not pregnant!"

"No!" shouted both Gin and Tae at the same time, the two of them blushing.

"You see," Gin started, breaking the awkward silence. "Otae-chan and I have been secretly seeing each other for some time," Gin lied masterfully. Tae looked momentarily startled by the term of endearment, but slipped into the lie just as easily.

"Yes, we're in … love," she added, unable to stop the slight pause before she said "love". Luckily, Shinpachi was too busy hyperventilating to notice.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW!" Shinpachi wailed before fainting.

"Who's brother-in-law?" asked Kagura, who had slipped into the room during the chaos.

"Gin and I decided to get married," Tae repeated, leaving out her normal honorific to try to make it seem as if they were closer. Kagura frowned.

"You pregnant, uh huh? Did you have a one-night-stand?"

"NO!" Gin and Tae shouted in unison again, flushing in unison as well. On the floor, Shinpachi had regained consciousness, but was rocking back and forth in the fetal position, whimpering. Tae rolled her eyes and happened to look over at the clock.

"I'm late for work!" she cried. She rushed out of the room. "Bye, Gin! See you tomorrow!"

Shinpachi was still rocking and Kagura had gone into the kitchen to get more of her vile sukonbu. Gin sighed.

"Life is going to be VERY interesting for the next three years."


	3. Chapter 3: Planning

Chapter Three

Tae made it to work on time–just barely–and had a rather uneventful night. To her disappointment, there were no perverts at the club that night. It would have been very relaxing if just one of them had tried to grope somebody, in Tae's opinion. After such a horrible day, she really needed to release some stress and beating the living daylights out of somebody sounded like the perfect way to do it.

But first, she had to let the club owner know about her impending marriage. After the club had closed to the public, she went to his private office.

"Please tell me you're not pregnant!" the owner cried out after Tae broke the news.

"No!" She blushed yet again as someone asked her that embarrassing question. Yet again.

"So, does your husband-to-be want you to quit working here?" the owner asked in fear. "I certainly hope not, because you're my best girl. I've sold ten times more drinks since you've joined us."

"He didn't say anything about it. I don't think he minds. He's been here before, he knows it's a clean club," Tae said, feeling rather proud that she was the best girl in the club. _"Take than, Ane!"_ she thought with glee.

The owner sighed in relief.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me, Shimura-san?" Tae shook her head.

"We're getting married on Saturday and so I was wondering if I could have that day off?"

"The day?" the owner asked, startled. "Shimura-san, with the amount of money you've raised for the club, I'll give you a whole week off! Don't worry about anything!"

Tae sighed in relief. There weren't any other girls at the club who were married and she had been worried that she might have to quit. It was a relief that she could keep working at the club and get some time off as well.

Tae went back to her dressing room and dressed in her casual kimono, thinking about all the relaxing things she was going to do during her week off: hot springs, tea, massages – it was going to be great.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Tae called the yorozuya to find out if Gin was there. They had barely had any time to talk the day before and they really needed to discuss all the final details. Luckily, Gin picked up. Tae explained that they still had several things they still needed to talk about and Gin suggested they meet up at a restaurant. Fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at a small but cozy noodle house.

"Daigo Ramen," Tae read off the sign. "I've never been here before."

"It's really good!" Gin assured. "I know the owner."

The entered the mostly empty store and ordered their ramen.

"The club owner gave me a week off, so we can go get married anytime tomorrow," Tae said, beginning the conversation. Gin nodded.

"The sooner the better, so let's go around eleven o' clock," suggested Gin. Tae nodded in agreement.

"We still need a witness, though. We can't use Shinpachi because the witness has to be a legal adult."

"Witness to what, Gintoki?"

"Zura? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm not Zura, I am Katsura."

"Whatever. Now what the hell are you doing here?"

"I am bringing you your ramen." Indeed, Katsura held two bowls of ramen. "But why do you need a witness, Gintoki?"

Gin growled under his breath and decided that the best course of action would be to just tell him.

"We're getting married," Gin said, grabbing Tae's hand for good measure. They heard a loud gasp from the ramen counter.

"Gin-san, you're getting married?" the ramen owner gaped at them before she smiled warmly. "Congratulations!"

The only other people in the shop, an elderly couple, looked at them.

"Oh, how sweet!" the elderly lady sighed. "I can still remember when I got married!" As the older lady continued to talk to herself, the elderly man looked over.

"You're much too pretty for him," he declared. Tae blushed. "You should wait for a richer, more handsome one!"

"Hey!" Gin shouted indignantly as the elderly man took his (still talking) wife gently by the arm and lead her out of Daigo Ramen. The owner of the ramen shop joined them at the table.

"He's right," she said, peering at Tae. "You ARE too pretty for him!"

Gin glared. "Would everyone please just leave us alone?"

"Gintoki, you still haven't explained to me why you need a witness," Katsura said in annoyance.

"We need a witness to sign the documents at City Hall," Tae explained, sensing that Gin needed a few moments to calm down. Katsura sighed.

"I would gladly do it, but since I am a fugitive, I can hardly walk into City Hall with you and sign the documents."

"If you're a fugitive, then why the hell are you working in a noodle shop?" Gin asked, still sour about the underhanded insults he had just received.

"If that's all you need, I'll do it," the ramen shop owner said jovially. "It would be a nice change. All I ever do it make ramen. It'll be nice to take a day off." Tae smiled.

"How kind of you, Ikumatsu-dono," Katsura interjected.

"Thank you, Ikumatsu-san," Tae added.

"Yeah, thanks," Gin muttered. Tae kicked him under the table.

"Just tell me when and where," Ikumatsu said kindly, ignoring the pained expression on Gin's face.

"We're getting married at City Hall tomorrow at eleven o' clock," Tae supplied.

"So soon?" Ikumatsu exclaimed. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"No!" Gin and Tae shouted once again in unison. Tae was getting rather sick of that question.

"Well, I'll come by your house bright and early tomorrow to help you get ready!" Ikumatsu said, clapping her hands together. Tae smiled. Ikumatsu was a very kind lady who reminded her of her own mother.

The dinner rush began and Ikumatsu and Katsura left them alone. Tae and Gin finished their ramen and Gin walked Tae to work. A block away from their destination, Gin suddenly stopped.

"Gin-san? Is everything all right?" Gin was busy digging through his pockets and sleeves.

"Dammit, where did I put it?" he muttered to himself, not having heard Tae.

"Gin-san?" Tae placed a hand on his arm.

"Got it!" Gin yelled in triumph, raising a closed fist up in the air.

"You're not the only one who doesn't want to go to jail," Gin stated. "If this doesn't look right, people'll get suspicious, which is why I got this!" He opened his fist to reveal a plain silver ring. "This was the nicest one I could afford," he said sheepishly. "But it's a ring, and that's what counts, right? So," he kneeled in front of Tae, "Shimura Otae, will you marry me?"

She smacked him. "I'm the one who asked you, moron!" she growled with a deep blush on her cheeks.

Gin got up and shrugged. "Just making it official. Plus, Shinpachi told me he'd kill me if I didn't treat you right." He slid the ring onto Tae's finger. Luckily, it fit. "Have fun at work. I'll come by at half past ten tomorrow."

He walked away, and Tae had a hard time explaining to herself why the silver ring on her finger made her so happy.


	4. Chapter 4: More Embarassing Questions

**A/N - I made up a few characters who work in the club. They appear very briefly, and are only mentioned by name. And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! Thank you so much for all of your kind words. :)  
**

**

* * *

**Chapter Four

Upon Tae's entrance into the dressing rooms of the club, a sudden explosion of color showered her with glitter and confetti.

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

Tae blinked in pure confusion and to get the paper bits out of her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked in a daze, still blinking out sparkly confetti.

"Otae-chan! Why didn't you tell us you were getting married?" Hanako squealed. Various sentiments along the same line came from every direction, freaking Tae out just a little.

"Calm down, all of you!" Oryo scolded. She turned to Tae and smiled. "We were so surprised when the boss told us you were getting married! At first, we thought you were pregnant." Tae's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Though he was quick to assure us that that was most certainly not the case," added Miku, having seen the dangerous twitch.

"How did he propose?" Hanako asked with sparkling eyes. "Was it romantic?"

"He got down on one knee and asked." Tae, being the complete opposite of a romantic, had no idea how to answer the second part of the question. Several of the girls sighed happily.

"Did he give you a ring?" asked Aki in excitement. Tae nodded and showed off her ring, blushing.

"Aww, she's blushing," cooed Aiko. "Oh, Otae-san, you're so lucky!"

"Are you having a ceremony or just going to City Hall?" Ane asked.

"City Hall," Tae answered.

"You're not having a ceremony?" groaned several of the girls, looking disappointed.

"Are you at least having a reception?" cried out Chiyo.

Tae shook her head. "We hadn't planned on it." A chorus of moans and gasps followed.

"Are you sure you're not pregnant?" Ane smirked.

"Very sure!" Tae snapped.

"What's his name?" Miku inquired. All of the other girls suddenly realized they had forgotten the most important question of all. Tae was suddenly bombarded with questions about her fiancé.

"His name is Sakata Gintoki." She decided to start with his name.

"WHAT?" Ane, Hanako, and Oryo stared at her incredulously. "Him? _Why_?"

"Stop gossiping and get to work!" the club owner yelled from the doorway, where no one had noticed him. The girls scurried to their own areas to get ready. Tae was very relieved.

* * *

Tae woke up Saturday morning feeling rather nervous, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Around eight o' clock, Ikumatsu arrived to help Tae with her makeup, hair, and kimono. Tae would have been perfectly willing to get married in her regular clothes, but Ikumatsu, believing the marriage to be genuine, had come expecting that Tae would be wearing a traditional wedding kimono, one which she would need help putting on.

Tae decided then that wearing a wedding kimono would probably make the whole scam look more real, so she went into the storage area of the Shimura home to find her mother's shiromaku. Luckily, it had not been sold when the Shimura family had gone into debt; neither her father nor Tae had been able to part with it.

The garment was stored far in the back, folded carefully into an old trunk. The shiromaku was true to its name–it was pure white, with red camellias embroidered near the hem in silk thread. Ikumatsu sighed when she saw it.

"It's beautiful, Otae-san."

Tae suddenly found herself choked up when she saw the fabric. Her parents wedding picture was the only one she had of them. In the only picture she had of her mother, and the only image in Tae's mind of her, she was wearing this kimono. Tae rubbed at her eyes, angry with herself. She had no reason to get so emotional about a fake wedding. They'd be divorcing as soon as she had her property, anyway. For some strange reason, that thought made the tears that were gathering threaten to spill over.

Tae recovered and she and Ikumatsu went back to her room to apply the makeup and style her hair before they tackled the feat of getting the heavy kimono on.

* * *

Gin was already awake and making breakfast for himself and Kagura when he heard a knock at the door.

"Whatever you're selling, we can't afford it," he yelled through the door before sliding it open. "Oh, Zura. It's you."

"I'm not Zura. I am Space Captain Katsuuura."

Gin blinked at the sight of Katsura in his ridiculous Space Captain cosplay.

"Why are you wearing that? And why are you even here?"

"Ikumatsu-dono sent me to make sure you were wearing something nice for the wedding. And I am cleverly disguised so that I may accompany you to the wedding."

"… Why does everyone seem to think I'm going to be the worst husband ever?"

* * *

Ikumatsu stuck the final kanzashi in Tae's beautifully styled hair and stepped back to admire her work. With the hair and makeup done, Ikumatsu began the daunting task of dressing Tae. The shiromaku was a complicated garment that took a very long time to put on. After nearly two hours, Ikumatsu was finally almost done.

"Otae-san?"

"Hmm?"

"I hope you don't think that I'm nosy, but are you…knowledgeable about what happens between a married couple in the bedroom?"

Tae's cheeks flared.

"I know about what happens," she muttered, her face still very hot. Ikumatsu visibly relaxed.

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed. "I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were in for later tonight." She tied the final knot of the obi and straightened the kimono out. Tae turned around, with some difficulty, due to the weight of the fabric, curiously looked at her reflection in the mirror, and instantly had the breath knocked out of her. She looked exactly like her mother. Dimly, she was aware of Ikumatsu sighing behind her.

"You look so beautiful!" Ikumatsu gushed. Tae was too stunned to respond. At that moment, they heard knocking on the front door, shaking Tae out of her stupor. Ikumatsu smiled.

"Perfectly on time!" She gently took Tae by the arm and led her toward the front door, which Shinpachi had already opened to welcome in their guests. Shinpachi's jaw dropped at the sight of her. His wasn't the only one.

"Ane-go, you look so pretty, uh huh!" Kagura exclaimed.

"Thank you so much, Ikumatsu-san," Tae said in a subdued voice. Ikumatsu smiled back. Her smile widened even further at the look on Gin's face when he took his beautiful, blushing bride by the hand. She sighed again.

"Is something the matter, Ikumatsu-dono?" Katsura asked in concern. Ikumatsu shook her head.

"I wish I'd had a daughter." A look of sadness passed on Ikumatsu's face. As quickly as it had come, it was replaced by another smile. "Let's get those two to City Hall before they forget they're supposed to be getting married." She went forward to usher the wedding party out the door in a quite motherly fashion. Katsura moved to catch up with them.

"And good job picking out his clothes," Ikumatsu whispered to Katsura when she was sure Gin and Tae weren't listening, motioning to the traditional black monstuki and striped hakama the groom wore.


	5. Chapter 5: The Wedding

Chapter Five

City Hall wasn't terribly far from the Shimura residence so the wedding party decided to walk. They hadn't gone a block away from the house before Shinpachi walked straight into a telephone pole, putting a large dent in it.

"I forgot my glasses!" Shinpachi yelled and sprinted back toward the house. Everyone exchanged confused looks. In a few seconds, he came running back, now wearing his glasses. All of those in the wedding party simply shrugged it off as one of the gags that usually accompanied their lives and continued on.

The ceremony itself did not take long. Upon their arrival at City Hall, Gin and Tae filled out the appropriate paperwork and then signed the marriage document, after which Ikumatsu signed it as the witness. "Space Captain Katsuuura" received quite a few stares, but escaped with his identity hidden. In only half an hour, they were wed. Tae breathed a sigh of relief when the magistrate declared, in a bored, monotone voice, that they now were legally married.

After that, there was no reason to linger at City Hall so the wedding party went back to the Shimura residence. Or rather, as it has just legally become, the Sakata residence. As they entered the house, an explosion of déjà vu, in the form of glitter and confetti, hit Gin and Tae square in their faces. A resounding cry of "SURPRISE!" deafened them. The culprit was the same as the one that had attacked Tae with bits of glitter before – the girls from the club.

"We couldn't let you get married without some sort of celebration!" Oryo was the first to speak after the echoes of "SURPRISE!" stopped bouncing off the shoji walls. "We checked with your brother first, and he said he'd let us in so we could set up for the reception!"

At least the mystery of how Shinpachi could have possibly forgotten his glasses was solved.

Of course, Tae wasn't thinking about her brother at all. She was still too shocked from the assault on her and Gin's eyes.

"All of this…?" she stuttered. The girls nodded happily. There were streamers hung throughout the rafters and a (rather sloppily made) "Congratulations!" poster hung on the wall. A small pile of brightly wrapped presents sat next to the head of the table which was laden with food. Kagura immediately gave a cry of delight and descended upon the table.

"We'd better get the party started before Kagura eats everything," warned Shinpachi. For once, they listened to him. However, Oryo pulled on Tae's sleeve before she could sit down. Tae looked at her in confusion until Oryo leaned over and whispered something into Tae's ear that resulted in a look of confusion but a nod. They joined the table then, though it was a tight squeeze. Luckily, everyone managed to sit around the table and they started eating the lunch that had been set out. Sake flowed freely and it wasn't too long before Shinpachi was barely coherent. The party was going nicely until a large group of uniformed men burst into the room.

"We, the Shinsengumi, have received a complaint about the noise level of this party!" Kondo declared loudly with his sword drawn.

"Actually, we just wanted to crash it," Okita muttered.

"Don't tell them that!" Kondo shouted. "Besides, I really just wanted to see if my precious Otae-san actually married that permed jerk!"

"Hey!" cried out said permed jerk. Tae took a more active route. Her foot connected with Kondo's solar plexus and he was thrown violently out of the window, his cries of pain easily heard. Hijikata coughed uncomfortably.

"We should probably go get him," he said just as awkwardly before the Shinsengumi shuffled out of the room. An uncomfortable silence fell upon the party. Tae sat back down and everyone began to eat again, except for Kagura, who had never stopped eating despite the rather large distraction of the arrival of her arch-nemesis. Shinpachi said something stupid and the tension disappeared. At least, until they heard the massive boom of what sounded like a bazooka shot and Hijikata came crashing through the wall.

"What the hell?! Stop trying to kill me!" Hijikata screamed at Okita, who had followed him through the wall and smirked over his body. Kagura threw a gyoza at Sougo.

"Get out of here, sadist bastard!" she shrieked.

"Shut your trap, China girl!" he yelled back. Growling, Kagura tackled him and knocked him back outside and loud fighting sounds followed. Hijikata stood up, brushing off his uniform.

"I'll have someone take care of this," he said, gesturing toward the torn shoji. "And congratulations." He sauntered out the hole in the wall and apparently dragged Okita off with him, because Kagura came back in, covered in dirt with rips in her formal dress and a grin on her face.

* * *

The party lasted several hours. They played a few party games, including rounds of karaoke from Shinpachi that had them all covering their ears. The girls had even arranged for a photographer to come so that Gin and Tae could have a picture of their wedding day. At some point, Sa-chan dropped down from the rafter where she had apparently been hiding, wailed loudly, and ran out the door, chugging a bottle of sake she had snatched from the table.

Eventually, the girls had to leave, since they still had work that night, and Ikumatsu and Katsura took that as their signal to leave as well. Shinpachi had sobered up a little and, turning a bright shade of red, informed his sister that he would be spending the week at Gin's apartment to give them – here he turned an even brighter shade of red – some time alone.

After everyone had gone, Tae changed out of the heavy shiromaku into a yukata that was blessedly pounds lighter. By then, it was nearly dinner time so Gin and Tae had a quiet dinner, which consisted of warmed leftovers from lunch. By the time they were done eating, both of them were exhausted beyond belief and made the mutual decision to go to bed. Blushing, Tae explained to Gin that, in an effort to make their marriage look less suspicious, they should probably sleep in the same room.

"But don't you dare think that means I'll do anything with you!" she added quickly, the heat in her face rising. Her blushing face was exceedingly cute, Gin decided. He resisted the urge to tease Tae, as he rather enjoyed living, so he merely promised her that he wouldn't try anything. Unable to completely resist teasing his blushing wife, he added that he certainly hadn't been planning to try anything, earning him a light punch in the arm. Of course, light by Tae's standards meant that Gin was still in a large amount of pain.

Gin had changed into his pajamas and was setting out the double futon when he noticed that the presents the girls had given them had, sometime during the party, migrated to their bedroom.

"Hey, we still haven't opened the presents," remarked Gin.

"Oryo told me to wait until we were alone to open them," Tae replied, remembering suddenly Oryo's odd request. She walked over to the pile of untouched presents and carefully removed the paper from the gift on top.

"So what do your friends give you when you get married anyway, blenders?" Gin asked as he threw the blanket over the futon. Tae was silent. "Otae?" Gin turned around to see Tae frozen in shock. Her back was to him so he couldn't see what it was exactly that she was holding. Curiously, he walked over to see what the gift was. His jaw dropped when he saw the scrap of lace and silk sitting in Tae's shocked hands. Tae seemed to wake up from her stupor then and shoved the sheer negligé back into the box, turning bright red.

"I-I think they're all like this," she mumbled. Gin found himself unable to say anything, his traitorous mind having already conjured up an image of Tae dressed in that sheer silk negligé with a seductive look on her face. Gin forced the image out of his mind and quickly returned to the futon.

"Let's just get to sleep and worry about opening the rest of those later," he said before sliding in between the covers. Tae shoved the box away and joined him under the covers, positioning herself as far away from him as possible.

"Good night," she said awkwardly.

"Good night," Gin replied before sleep overtook them both.


	6. Chapter 6: Moments

**A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait. School and life got in the way and I didn't have time to write. Please enjoy!**

* * *

It was very warm when he woke up. Something light was brushing against his head, tickling his chin. Gin opened his eyes slowly to see that, sometime during the night, Tae had snuggled up to him and her messy hair was brushing against his face. He tried his best not to breathe as he frantically pondered how he could possibly escape this situation. Tae would surely wake up if he pushed her away and would then most likely attack him. Gin shuddered at the thought. He was much too young to die. A frown crossed Tae's sleeping face and she made a quiet noise of displeasure before snuggling deeper into his side.

After Gin's heart rate went back down to a somewhat normal level, he threw his brain into hyper drive, searching frantically from some type of escape. There had to be some way of getting out of this with his life! His sleep-deprived brain came up with two options: push Tae away and risk her wrath, or pretend to be sleeping and hope that when she woke up she would be too embarrassed at their intimate position to yell at him.

Gin's eyes bulged out at the realization of just how intimate their current position was. Tae's arm was wrapped across his chest and her leg was hooked over his. The sense of danger he had already been suffering from multiplied exponentially. He started to hyperventilate. She was going to kill him when she woke up; she was really going to kill him!

Though the feeling of his wife's arms around him as she slept peacefully was a rather nice thing to wake up to in the morning. Gin quickly smothered the thought away. This was only a scam marriage; there was no point in fantasizing about Tae treating him like she was really his loving wife. There were no feelings between them, absolutely none!

"_Then why are you so nervous right now?"_ teased the part of Gin's brain that wasn't preoccupied with either repressing the fantasy of having Tae as his wife or trying to escape Tae's unconscious embrace without dying.

Gin swallowed hard. That small traitorous part of his brain was right. There was no point in denying it to himself any further. There was a portion of him that liked Tae very much and had been elated when she had proposed to him. That same portion was currently in heaven with her warm, supple body molded against him, the hand stretched across his body being the one bearing the engagement ring he hadn't been able to stop himself from buying.

Her face, Gin realized, was all too close to his own and her lips were parted slightly, breaths puffing out against his skin. His heart was pounding relentlessly again and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her.

A small part of his brain made its way past the Tae-induced haze and reminded him that forcing any amount of attention on Tae would result in his immediate and painful death. Gin forced his face away from hers, his heart aching from the separation as he gently unwound himself from Tae's body (someone up there liked him, because she didn't wake up) and curled up, facing away from her, on the far side of the futon.

* * *

Tae woke up slowly to the smell of something cooking. Gin was nowhere to be seen and sunlight was streaming into the room, the rays warming up the room. Surprised, she ventured into the kitchen only to find Gin scooping out rice onto the fish he had already cooked. Tae was taken completely aback. She blinked repeatedly, the image too strange to believe. A strange warmth suddenly flooded through her, making her heart pump a mile a minute and a blush rise in her cheeks.

"_He couldn't have done all this for me,"_ Tae scolded herself inwardly. It was silly to think like this, that Gin might actually have feelings for her. _"Thinking like that will only get you hurt,"_ she berated herself. Finally, she managed to calm her heart and take a step into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" she asked. It couldn't be simple cooking, there had to be some nefarious plot behind this. Gin turned in surprise, not having noticed her presence, and smiled. Tae's heart seemingly exploded again, pounding hard and the blush she had managed to beat back down arose with a vengeance.

"Good morning to you, too," he said cheerfully, not seeming to have noticed Tae's discomfort, and passed her a plate and a set of chopsticks. "You're just in time. I made breakfast."

Tae calmed herself down again and took the plate suspiciously and sat down with it. He didn't have any feelings for her, so what could have possibly induced him to make breakfast? She thought furiously about what on earth could have possessed the lazy man to do something proactive. There had to be some other reason and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Gin, who had no idea of what terror was awaiting him, sat across from Tae at the table and dug in. Tae, however, was eyeing the plate with narrowed eyes, a pretty good idea brewing in her head. The breakfast looked innocent enough, a small amount of lightly cooked fish next to a small pile of rice.

"Is something wrong?" Gin asked when he realized that Tae hadn't touched her food.

"You made breakfast," she said slowly but with underlying danger. Gin blinked and felt dread fall upon him. Tae couldn't be mad, was she? He chuckled weakly.

"Isn't that the modern thing to do? Isn't the husband supposed to help with chores and cooking and stuff?" he offered weakly. He had other reasons for cooking, but he'd be damned before he admitted them. After all, he enjoyed having all of his limbs.

There was a look of anger building on Tae's face and fear filled his soul. What could he have possibly done wrong? Weren't women usually happy when husbands did chores?

"You just don't want to eat my cooking, isn't that it, you jerk?" she growled. Gin paled. She had found out. One of his reasons, anyway. He'd rather be killed by Tae than admit to her that he had just wanted to do something nice for her because he was kind of maybe in love with her. He also didn't want to admit her cooking always made him sick for days.

"N-n-n-no!" he quickly cried out. "It's not that at all!"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Tae cried out in anger. "I knew it!"

She stood angrily and retreated to the kitchen. The truth, she realized, was that she _had_ hoped that Gin had done something kind for her, and she had hoped that maybe the tiny feelings she had for him were something, and that he could also feel that something. She buried her face in her hands and mentally berated herself for allowing herself to get emotionally invested in this marriage, even though her own common sense had warned her about it from the very start. Her anger was now dissipated and she felt horrible about the way she had treated Gin earlier, and after such a lovely gesture, be it romantically intended or not. Of course, it mostly was, but Tae had no way of knowing it. She merely squared her shoulders and returned to the table where Gin was picking miserably at his food.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, sitting beside him. He stiffened. "I know my cooking's terrible but I shouldn't have gotten angry with you."

"I understand," Gin replied, also speaking quietly. "You've been under a lot of stress, it was bound to come out some time." He offered her a grin. "At least you didn't hit me. Then I'd have to report you for spousal abuse," he teased. Tae smacked his shoulder gently and retrieved the breakfast she had yet to try, feeling light and happy knowing that Gin had forgiven her.

"You're a much better cook than I am," Tae observed after she had tried a bite.

"It isn't very hard to be a better cook than you." The retort slipped out on its own. Tae only smiled and punched him lightly in the shoulder. Although neither of them knew it, they were both thinking along the same lines: _"If every day gets to be like this, maybe this fake marriage won't be so bad."_


	7. Chapter 7: Fate

As with all married couples, whether they are real or not, a routine eventually develops. This happened to Gin and Tae as well. Kagura moved into the Shimura house after a week had passed and life went back to its regular schedule. Gin was the first up and made breakfast, a welcome change for Shinpachi. The fact that he made delicious food was one of the main reasons he finally warmed up to Gin as a brother. After breakfast, Tae would clean up and start her regular chores while the yorozuya trio went off to do whatever job they could find for the day. They often returned before Tae left for work and would eat dinner (cooked by Gin) all together. Gin, Kagura, and Shinpachi would all be asleep by the time Tae came back from the club (and the constant teasing about her husband).

The first six months of their marriage passed this way, in a happy routine. Both Gin and Tae, believing the other to not be interested in them, had spent those six months pretending to be a couple in front of Kagura, Shinpachi, and all the rest of their friends, but denying their true feelings. It had been six months of torture for the both of them. Every move seemed to be both a declaration of love and reassurance that their feelings were not reciprocated.

However, this dancing around of feelings was about to be shattered along with Shinpachi's leg. Another one of Prince Hata's ridiculously-sized pets had escaped, and once again, the yorozuya had been called upon to stop its rampage. It had taken several hours (as well as several destroyed buildings) before the creature had been stopped, captured, and hauled back to the Prince. Unfortunately, one of the injuries resulting from the monster's rampage had included Shinpachi, who had suffered a severe compound fracture. The bone poked disgustingly through the skin of his shin and Gin had to force back his gag reflex.

Gin and Kagura had immediately taken Shinpachi to the hospital only to run into a huge problem. An injury like Shinpachi's required surgery and anesthesia, both of which, because Shinpachi was a minor, needed a parental or guardian signature. Gin argued with the doctor furiously, but he was resolute. Shinpachi was lying in the hospital bed, white as the sheets surrounding him, the look of pain on his face impossible to ignore. Gin swore.

"I'll go get Tae. I'll be right back."

It was rush hour so Gin ignored all of the taxis gridlocked in the streets and ran all the way to Tae's club. Hijikata had tried to stop him, but Gin merely planted his foot in the older man's gut, sent him flying into the river, and continued. He was stopped at the entrance of the club by the bouncer the owner had hired recently.

"I need to see Tae right away. It's her brother."

Though the bouncer was burly and at least two feet taller than Tae, he, too, was terrified of her and let Gin in immediately. He hurried through the booths, looking desperately for his wife. He found her, feeling a swell of anger and jealousy as she poured a drink for a rather creepy looking middle-aged man. He vaulted over a booth and landed next to Tae.

"Tae. It's Shinpachi. He's in the hospital and they need family permission to give him anesthesia for surgery."

Tae had already jumped up at "It's Shinpachi". Her customer immediately grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"I'm still here, you aren't allowed to leave," he growled. Tae raised her fist to destroy the bastard keeping her from her hurt brother but she was cut off by Gin's sword flashing through her vision. In a split second, Gin had the point of his bokuto pointed right between the bastard's eyes, a millimeter away from the skin.

"Get your filthy hand off of my wife," he said quietly, but with a hint of anger. The man immediately let go of both Tae and his bladder control. Gin grabbed Tae's hand and they ran out of the club. On their way out, Gin noticed that things had gotten very quiet during the encounter and everyone watched them on their way out. Except for Tae, whose focus was solely on her brother.

They made it back to the hospital in record time. Tae was fine, but after two long runs, Gin nearly passed out in Shinpachi's room. Tae managed not to kill the doctor and signed all of the necessary paperwork with lightning speed and soon enough, Shinpachi was rushed into surgery, but not after being sedated. The three were left waiting in the emergency room as another unfortunate victim of the earlier rampage took the room.

Gin sat between the two women, one of which was, unfortunately, very emotional during emergencies. Kagura almost immediately feel asleep against Gin's shoulder, but Tae remained awake during the entire surgery, despite her fatigue. Gin stayed up with her, holding her hand as she did her best to remain strong for Shinpachi. Both of them were so concerned about the younger boy they didn't even pay attention to their intertwined hands.

By the time the surgery was complete, it was well past visiting hours so they were not allowed to see Shinpachi. There were assured that he had a room and that they would be allowed to visit him in the morning and then they were sent home. Kagura was still sleeping so Gin carried her all the way home. He couldn't help but feel, now that Shinpachi's safety was assured and he could afford himself the luxury to be worrying about his marital state, that he and Tae looked rather like a family right about now, returning home from somewhere late, carrying their sleeping child. Gin shook off those thoughts quickly, but they returned again and again, escalating in annoyance.

He had decided, by the time he had tucked Kagura into her futon, that he didn't care anymore. He didn't care about Tae's reaction or the disgust she was sure to show him when he told her, but he couldn't hold back anymore. He couldn't keep pretending to be the happy newlyweds when they weren't. He was going to confess to her, whether she liked it or not. He at least needed closure. Even if she shot him down and broke his heart, at least then his heart would be broken and he could start to mend it. Gin just needed an answer. Now.

Gin took a deep breath before sliding open the door to their bedroom and entering.

"Tae, I need to talk to you."

Or that was what he meant to say, anyway. Tae cut him off halfway through.

"Gin." She sounded serious and Gin gulped. "I need to tell you something that's been bothering me for months. I thought I could just live with it, but I can't. Ever since we got married, I can't help but feel attracted to you and I think I might even be in love with you."

Gin gaped at her.

"And I finally decided that I want you to know how I feel, even if you don't feel the same. I'd rather just know than torture myself constantly thinking about it." Tae had avoided his eyes up until then, but now she looked up. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?" she prodded. Gin was shaken out of his stupor.

"NO FAIR!"

Tae jumped in shock. That wasn't one of the two reactions she had expected at all.

"'No fair'?" she repeated. Gin sulked.

"I was just about to say pretty much the same thing to you. You stole my monologue! I'm still the hero, you know! Uncool, Tae," he said, crossing his arms and pouting.

Smiling, Tae hit him in the shoulder before wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. Gin reciprocated, relishing the feeling of his wife hugging him. They remained that way for a few moments before, as if on cue, they both turned to each other and Gin softly kissed Tae.


	8. Chapter 8: Unexpected

**A/N Sorry, but this fic's about to get a little cliché. In plot points, anyway. Hopefully, even with this super predictable chapter, you can all enjoy it anyway. :)**

* * *

The first year of her marriage had been full of things Tae never would have expected. Some of them had been pleasant, such as falling in love, or making new friends in Katsura and Ikumatsu, whom Tae suspected had feelings for each other. Some of it had been unpleasant, such as nearly getting arrested for trespassing on her dead father's property.

This, however, took the cake. After Gin and Tae had confessed their love to each other, things between them had changed dramatically. Since they were in love and married anyway, it wasn't very long before they dug up their wedding gifts from storage and put them to good use. Which had led directly to Tae's current situation: sitting in the bathroom, waiting for a response from the home-pregnancy test.

She didn't have a lot of hope for a negative response. All of the telltale signs were there: her chest ached, she was exhausted, she spend half of every morning in the bathroom throwing up, and, to everyone's horror, had had the constant urge to make unusual creations in the kitchen that delighted her, but sent the rest of the family scattering in horror.

Tae cursed her luck. Considering how the previous year had done nothing but plague her with problems, it wasn't all that surprising that her marriage would continue in that line, considering that this was happening after only a few months of intimacy. That didn't mean she was any less ready for the possibility of having a baby. In fact, Tae was having a miniature panic attack at the thought. She and Gin were not even remotely close to being able to raise a child.

There was a lot of other crap, too. They barely had enough money to support the four of them, and now there was possibly going to be a fifth family member. Not to mention that babies were expensive, and would probably cost more than the entire family combined.

And her job! There was no way she could keep working at the club if she was really pregnant. Which led the whole thing back to the money issue. Tae earned the most money in the household. What could they possibly do to afford even basic necessities without her generous salary? Adding on the payments she still had to make on the property, the money issue was dire.

All in all, Tae prayed for the entire five minutes that the test was stewing that she be not pregnant. She liked babies enough, and she wasn't opposed to having her own. She just wasn't ready at the moment. Tae threw an impatient look at the timer. Ten seconds left. She picked up the test nervously and closed her eyes. She counted down out loud.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," she cracked her eyes open and looked fearfully at the test.

Her worst fears were confirmed by the pink plus sign.

* * *

Gin was feeling rather good. A month ago he and Tae had celebrated their first wedding anniversary. He never would have thought that their relationship would progress the way it had. He certainly was thankful, though.

Particularly today. Shinpachi had another Otsu thing going on, and Kagura had run into Okita. They had promptly started fighting and Gin had left the kids to their devices. He had a slight suspicion that there was something going on there, but he decided, in the interest of his own safety, it was better if he didn't say anything.

So instead, he was looking forward to a rare afternoon alone with his wife. Cheerfully, he entered their yard. However, he had not been expecting to see Tae huddled on the front porch, looking nervous and upset. She jumped in surprise when she saw him and, looking guilty, walked over to him. He greeted her with a kiss, but she pulled slightly away quickly.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, preferring the rip-the-band-aid-off-quick method of telling her husband about their child. If she wasn't so busy freaking out herself, she could have laughed at the expression on Gin's face as he processed the news. After a few seconds of silence, he finally regained the ability to form a sentence.

"A-are you sure?" He couldn't keep the stutter out of his words. Tae nodded grimly.

"I took two tests and they both came out positive." Tae leaned fully into Gin's arms. "Gin, what are we going to do?" she moaned. "We can't possibly afford this baby!" Gin tightened his arms around Tae.

"We'll figure something out," he murmured comfortingly into her ear. He had no idea how he was going to do that yet, but he would have to. "We'll figure something out," he repeated, trying to comfort himself as well as his distraught wife.

"How!" shrieked Tae, shoving Gin away violently. And painfully. Oh, great. The mood swings had already started. That was a huge step backwards. "We don't have any money! I'm gonna get fired! I'm only nineteen!"

Gin took a huge risk by pulling Tae against him again. Instead of hitting him like she normally would, she instead cried against him. It was weird, but way less painful than the hitting. It was hard to decide whether he liked the mood swings or hated them. They were making Tae act much more gently than normal, but at the same time, all of the hitting was part of the woman he loved.

"I'll just work harder so that we have enough money," he said firmly. "I'm sure your boss can figure out something for you. And I know you'll be a great mother, no matter how old you are," he assured her.

Tae looked up at him with shining eyes.

"Oh, Gin!" she cried out before hugging him tenderly. Gin decided that he definitely liked the mood swings. A wave of nausea suddenly hit Tae, and then, unfortunately, ended up on Gin.

The mood swings were fine, Gin decided, but he could definitely live without the morning sickness.

* * *

Tae stood nervously in front of her manager's office. Shinpachi and Kagura had taken the baby news much better than she had thought. Kagura had been ecstatic at the prospect of a little sister (she had refused to believe that Tae's baby was anything other than a precious little girl) and Shinpachi had seemed rather excited at the prospect of a little niece or nephew. Although the euphoria from receiving a kiss on the cheek from Otsu for protecting her from another insane fan probably had had a lot to do with his happiness. Her family's opinions were the only ones that mattered to Tae, yet she could really use some help from her manager. Tae bit her lip, raised her fist, and knocked.

"Come on in."

Tae entered the office and watched as the manager's face collapsed in disappointment at the mere sight of her.

"I've been dreading this day since you first told me you were getting married," he groaned before Tae could say anything, burying his face in his hands. "You're expecting, aren't you?"

Tae nodded. "I'm quitting today," she declared.

"I hate to see you go," lamented her manager. "If you ever want to come back, I'll always have a job for you here."

Tae smiled and thanked the manager before going to collect her things and break the news to her colleagues. She quickly returned home, wondering the whole while what in the world she and Gin could possibly do to have enough money for the new baby short of a severe felony.

* * *

**A/N This is where the story starts to pick up really quickly. Chapter 10 is the last chapter, so we're in the home stretch now! **


End file.
